Do You Believe In Monsters?
by newbienovelistRD
Summary: Lea, Jamie, and Sophie are out trick or treating for Halloween! But they get a lot more treats than they bargained for thanks to Pitch Black.


**Here is a crossover story of Rise of the Guardians and The Halloween That Almost Wasn't. Done by Redbat132 and myself.**

**Enjoy and Happy Halloween! :)**

* * *

"This is gonna be the best Halloween ever!"

Lea Thompson was super excited about this night. For the first time in years, she was gonna spend Hallows Eve not in New York, but in Burgess where her cousins live. After some convincing to her parents, they let Lea go to her cousins' hometown for a few days to catch up on some family time. Especially since they hadn't seen each other in five years.

Of course, Lea didn't forget to bring her childhood companion, Nightlight, on this incredible trip. And Jamie and Sophie love having a magical toy action figure around playing with them. But the three kids had to keep it quiet with Aunt Trish around. Whom is also the mother of Jamie and Sophie. Magic belonging from the Guardians of Childhood is meant to be a secret to grown-ups.

"Come on, Lea! It's almost time to go!" Jamie called from down stairs.

"Just a minute, Jamie. I'm just about to put the finishing touches on my costume," Lea replied, already slipping on a dark blue frosted jacket she designed and a white sparkly wig to cover her natural curly hair. "What do you think, Nightlight?"

The wooden toy looked at his friend in awe. Lea was dressed up as the Guardian of Fun himself: Jack Frost! She had on short spiky white wig with some sparkles that look like frost on them, light blue contact lenses that changed her autumn eyes, a dark blue hoodie jack accustomed with some detailed frost designed both sewed and outlined with some markers, light brown pants, and some silver fur boots…considering she can't go around the neighborhood barefooted like her Frosty Spirit friend. As a final touch, she grabbed her hockey stick that was now in the shape of a shepherd's staff. She even had her own special holster strap for her staff that is light grey and had light blue, dark blue, and white snowflake prints on them around her torso.

Nightlight gave two thumbs-up on Lea's costume, making her chuckle.

"Glad you like it, Nightlight. This would be perfect to get more kids on the block to believe in Jack Frost. I really want people to know how amazing and known the Spirit of Winter is," Lea explained.

Since not many people know about jack Frost's existence, Lea made it her goal in spreading the word of it. And if Jack and the other Guardians were there, they would be amazed at how similar she looked as the Guardian of Winter.

"Well, I better hurry down and not keep my cousins waiting. Come on, Nightlight," Lea said, lowering her treat bag for Nightlight to hop inside before going down stairs.

The Guardian of Courage didn't hesitate in joining his best friend and following her directions. He even hoped that the others would love her costume as much as he does.

While coming down stairs, Lea saw her aunt, Trish Bennett, helping adjust her children's costumes while bundling up a jacket to keep warm.

Jamie was dressed up like a pirate with the hat, jacket, pants, and boots. Along with a fake sword Lea helped design for him.

His younger sister, who had very long, straight blonde hair that was covering almost her entire face and cute green eyes, was dressed up like a cute little fairy. She had the sparkly wings, sparkly magenta tutu, and wand. Even though Lea and Jamie knew that the fairies they met were hummingbird-like, they didn't argue with Sophie's design. Not to mention there could be other fairies that come in different shapes and sizes.

Lea couldn't help but think how adorable Sophie was up-close. She had only seen photos of her younger cousin from Aunt Trish for the past two and a half years. The blonde teen was still happy in finally meeting her.

"Alright, you two. Don't stay out for too long," Trish told her children. "I want you back home before ten. Your cousin, Lea, will be make sure you won't wander off."

"Don't worry, mom. We promise not to go too far," Jamie assured.

Sophie nodded her head in agreement.

"And keep both your hats and jackets on. It's very cold outside and we don't want Jack Frost nipping any noses," Trish reminded, before going to the front door in handing out candy for the trick-or-treaters.

Lea couldn't help but hold back a laugh on that. Despite her aunt telling her kids that it's just an expression, Lea knew that Jack was real and met him personally during her first adventure.

Just then, a certain brown and white greyhound showed up and barked at Lea happily before giving her some doggie kisses on her face.

"Hehehehe, hi, Abby! I'm very excited about tonight, too," Lea giggled, giving her favorite dog a belly rub while crouching down.

While doing that, Jamie and Sophie came in the room that leads to the backyard door in leaving the house to spot a familiar hoodie person with a shepherd's staff scratching Abby.

"Jack!" Sophie exclaimed, already hurrying over and giving 'Jack' a hug from behind.

"Jack? I didn't know you were going to join us. I thought you were busy," Jamie replied, a bit surprised to see 'Jack Frost' here.

Lea turned around and smiled, revealing her face to her cousins. "He is,"

After hearing her voice, Jamie and Sophie gasped, totally surprised that it was their own older cousin dressed as Jack Frost.

"Lea?! Wow! I really thought you were Jack Frost!" Jamie said, laughing with enjoyment. "You look exactly like him!"

"Thanks. I thought I'd go as my favorite myth for tonight with my favorite cousins," Lea said, already standing back up. "Now, who's ready for some trick-or-treating fun?"

"We are!" Jamie and Sophie chimed together, already following their older cousin outside and heading off to the neighborhood in collecting some delicious treats.

However, little did they know, that a certain Boogeyman was watching them.

"That's right, children. Enjoy your little fun. For soon, I will be getting some delicious treats with a special trick I have planned just for the three of you," Pitch assured, maniacally laughing within the shadows.

* * *

A few hours later, Lea, Jamie, and Sophie had their bags nearly full to the rim with sweet treats. Even many kids were talking about Lea's costume while walking around the neighborhood.

"Man, we have so much candy!" Jamie exclaimed, not hiding his excitement.

"Yeah. Tonight is going great. Let's stop at a few more houses and then head back home," Lea told her family.

"Race ya!" Jamie hollered, already making a running start with Sophie holding his hand.

"You are so on!" Lea laughed, catching up to her cousins.

However, while running, the three of them fell into what appeared to be a shadowy portal in front of their path that made them yelp. And when Lea fell in, she managed to drop her Halloween baggie that had Nightlight inside.

From a distance, Pitch laughed darkly at how his plan is in motion.

"Trick or treat, little ones," the Nightmare King sneered, before disappearing.

Turns out, Nightlight saw the shadowy portal disappear with Pitch leaving. Knowing that Lea and her cousins were in danger, Nightlight hurried to go get help.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lea, Jamie, and Sophie were screaming, as they fell and fell into a dark, seemingly endless abyss.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Finally, they landed on solid ground.

"Uhhh, what happened?" Lea groaned, feeling her head while slowly getting back up using her staff.

She soon found herself in a strange creepy neighborhood with dead trees and bats flying around. It was like the Grant Mansion, but not really. One thing was clear: She was not in Burgess anymore.

Just then, the blonde teen felt her feet chilly and looked to noticed something else weird.

"Where are my socks and boots?" she asked herself, only to have another sudden thought. "Wait a minute...Where's Jamie and Sophie?! I hope they're okay!"

Apparently, whatever that weird portal was, it separated Lea from Jamie and Sophie. They were located in a different place in wherever they were.

"Nightlight, can you help glow the way?" Lea asked, but soon discovered that her childhood friend wasn't with her either. "Nightlight is gone, too?! You have got to be kidding me!"

A wolf howl echoed in the distance, making Lea jump. She stood up and stared at the spookiest looking castle she's ever seen in her life.

Despite its spookiness, Lea saw a light inside. Maybe someone in there can help her. Swallowing hard, Lea ventured toward the spooky castle.

"I hope Jamie and Sophie are okay. I'll never forgive myself if anything bad happened to them," Lea said to herself, being careful in where she was stepping with her footwear gone. "How does Jack manage to handle walking around barefoot like this for hundreds of years? It feels so uncomfortable."

Lea reached to knock on the door, but it opened all by itself. Lea felt like running away in terror. She was scared, but she was also cold and needed slippers for her feet. So, she went inside.

"Hello? Anyone in here?" Lea said, suddenly feeling a tickle in her throat and coughed a bit. "Great. My throats getting sore."

She was right. Her voice began to sound a little raspy. But she had to keep going.

Suddenly, a voice came behind Lea. "Good evening." The voice was so spooky, that it chilled Lea to the bone. She shouted as she spun around and saw a man dressed in a Dracula costume.

"U-Uh..." Lea tried to speak, as she recovered from the shock. "S-Sorry to bother you, Sir. But I'm lost..." She took in the man's attire. "I like your Dracula costume."

The man raised a brow. "Ah, yes, my...costume. Thank you, my dear. What brings you to my humble castle?"

"My name is Lea, and I'm looking for two kids. A young boy in a pirate outfit and a little girl dressed up as a fairy," Lea explained, leaning on her staff. "Have you seen them?"

"I'm afraid not, my dear. But in the meantime, why don't I show you to the living room?" The man showed Lea to his living room. "Come, make yourself comfortable."

Lea took a seat on the couch. It was nice and cozy. She sighed, but it ended in a cough. "Sorry, my throat is a little sore."

"A sore throat? I have just the cure for that. Wait right here," With a swish of his cape, the man vanished into the darkness.

In the kitchen, the man approached a deformed man with a hunched back. "Igor! We have a guest tonight! Make her my special brew for curing sore throats. I want her neck to be ripe when I sink my teeth into it."

"Yes, Master," said Igor, preparing the brew. "Tell me, how does her neck look?"

The man smiled, running his tongue over his fangs. "Absolutely delicious..."

While waiting, Lea heard strange noises around the castle. Although she didn't want to be rude in leaving, the blonde teen couldn't stop thinking about Jamie and Sophie in trouble.

"I can't stay here, if my cousins aren't around. I got to find them," Lea stated, getting back up and making her way to the door. "Barefoot or not. Sore throat or no sore throat. I can't sit here and do nothing when my family could be in serious danger somewhere else."

Lea was about to leave until Igor came into her path. She squealed, almost falling over and bringing out her staff in defense. "Who...or what...are you?!"

"You can call me Igor." The hunchbacked man offered Lea a blue, fizzy drink. "Drink this. It'll make your throat better."

"Oh. Um, thank you, Igor," Lea said, politely taking the mug and started drinking it after easing up. "Neat costume, by the way. You and the guy in the Dracula costume really went all out in your looks as much as mine."

"Costume?" asked Igor. "What cost-"

"Thank you, Igor!" Dracula cut off his assistant as he rushed in. "Come now, Lea. Let us retire in the living room so you can rest."

"That is very sweet of you, Mr. Dracula. But I can't stay very long. I need to find my cousins and make sure they're okay," Lea replied, sipping her drink until it's all gone. "I do appreciate you giving me this remedy to clear my throat, though. I can feel it healing up and less scratch than before."

Dracula grinned. "It's an old family cure. Works every time," He slowly advanced toward Lea. "Now your neck looks nice and ripe..."

"Thank you, I-" Lea paused and blinked on that last part. "Wait, what?!" She found herself looking directly into Dracula's eyes. Strangely, Lea seemed to freeze as her eyes locked into his.

"You're...real..." she managed to say, her eyes drooping a little with her mind going hazy.

"Look into my eyes..." Dracula hissed, his hypnotic gaze overpowering Lea. "Deep into my eyes..."

Lea couldn't look away. She was completely entranced by the legendary vampire.

"You are under my spell. You are deep within my power."

"Yes, Master..." Lea mumbled, mesmerized.

"Now, my dear, give me your neck!"

Lea leaned her head to the side to expose her neck. Dracula chuckled, licking his lips as he opened his mouth, ready to bite Lea.

Just then, a figured wrapped head to toe in bandages plus moaning was hurrying over to where Dracula was. As if he came to tell the Vampire Lord something important.

The bandaged figure tripped and slammed right into Lea.

"MUMMY?!" Dracula roared in anger. "How dare you spoil my dinner!"

Lea groaned as she shook her head, snapping out of the trance. "Ohhhh, my head..." She gasped when she found a mummy lying on top of her. The mummy moaned an unearthly moan. As he staggered up, he turned his bandaged head to Lea, looking at her with his blank, gauzed eyes.

Lea turned white as a ghost. "A mu-mu-mu-mu-MUMMY!"

Acting fast, Lea grabbed her hockey staff and swung it at the Mummy that pushed him back before running away from the two monsters.

"I got to find another way out of this castle before I end up as vampire chow!" Lea exclaimed, moving as quickly as her naked feet can carry her.

"MUMMY! AFTER THAT NECK!" Dracula commanded. He chased after Lea as Mummy followed his monstrous friend.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the backyard of the castle, Sophie and Jamie had awakened from their fall.

"Oh, man. What just happened?" Jamie questioned, standing up while helping Sophie get back on her feet before noticing his older cousin gone missing. "And where's Lea? I hope she's okay,"

Sophie, turning her head on the window castle, saw someone what looked like jumping. Thinking it might be the Easter Bunny, the young girl giggled and hurried inside to see for herself.

"Easter Bunny! Hop, hop, hop!" she cried.

"Sophie, wait!" Jamie shouted, quickly following his sister.

But his words fell on deaf ears when Sophie went through the back door of the castle.

Jamie tried to follow her, but a cold hand gripped his shoulder. He spun around and saw a pale, sunken-eyes man in a hooded cloak. He let out an awful moan to the young child. Jamie gasped when he saw a spider crawl out of the man's mouth.

"Z-Z-Z-ZOMBIE!" Jamie screamed.

Although he would find this cool, Jamie was terrified up close and didn't hesitate running away from that undead creature.

"SOPHIE! LEA! SOMEONE HELP!" the young boy screamed.

"ARROOOOOOOOOOOOO!" A wolf howled as a huge, hairy beast jumped in front of Jamie.

The young boy came to a halt, both stunned and horrified to see a real-life Werewolf in front of him.

The werewolf menaced toward him. Jamie turned and saw the zombie right behind him, his gnarly arms reaching for the boy.

Jamie didn't know what to do! He was trapped! Trapped between two nightmarish monsters!

Too scared to move or think, the boy fainted.

The werewolf and the zombie stopped acting scary. A bit surprised by what happened.

"Huh. We never dealt with a fainter before," said the werewolf. "What do we do?"

The zombie shrugged, unsure what to do.

"Let's take him to the castle," The werewolf suggested. "Maybe Drac will know what to do with him."

The zombie nodded and picked up the boy's limp body.

* * *

Inside the castle, Sophie was walking down one of the many hallways to find who she thought was the Easter Bunny.

"Bunny?" Sophie questioned, looking for who she believed her rabbit friend.

Following the sound of heavy footsteps, Sophie entered one of the rooms and gasped when she saw Frankenstein's monster! And he was...tap dancing?

Although a bit scary, Sophie thought what Frankenstein's monster was doing was amusing and smiled. Giggling, she went to him from behind and tried following his dancing lead.

The monster continued doing his tap dancing, unaware of the little girl right behind him.

"One, two, three, four...one, two, three, four..." Frankenstein chanted as he did the steps. He ended with a big finish and struck a pose.

Hearing the sound of applause, the monster turned and saw Sophie clapping her little hands for the big guy.

"Oh! How delightful! A visitor!" Frankenstein said, happy to see the young human. "Did you like my little dance?"

"Yes, yes!" Sophie nodded her head on that, trying to mimic his moves on how much she loved it.

When she tried twirling around, the little girl tripped and fell on the ground.

"Oh, dear!" Frankenstein went to help Sophie. At that moment, Igor burst through the door.

"What's all the ruckus?" asked Igor.

"I have a boo-boo!" Sophie cried, sniffling a bit when rubbing her elbow.

Igor's heart went out to the tiny human. "There, there, little one." He helped Sophie up. "Let's get you a bandage and some hot cocoa."

Sophie dried her tears and smiled again, happy to meet new friends to help fix her boo-boo.

* * *

Somewhere in the castle, Lea was trying to find her way out. But then, a bat flew in front of her and transformed into Dracula!

"Gah! Back off, Dracula! I've had past experience in dealing with supernatural beings before!" Lea warned, twirling her staff like an expert and wielding it as if she's ready to swing. "I swear to frost, if you lied about having my cousins in here just to drain their blood like me, I'll knock the fanged teeth out of your mouth so you won't bite people ever again!"

Despite being terrified, Lea hated to know if her family was in danger. Including friends that were like family to her.

Hearing that familiar bone-chilling groan, Lea spun around and saw the mummy menacing toward her.

"Fight as you may, child! But this vampire hasn't had a good bite in a long time! So, you can't imagine the joy I feel when I say..." He snarled, flashing his fangs. "I want to suck your blood!"

"Bite this, you fanged creep!" Lea yelled, going underneath the Mummy's legs and kicked him from behind; causing the Mummy to fall on top of Dracula. "And for the record, this is not the first time I had to face a vampire that left me in a trance! And I doubt it will be the last!"

Just as Lea was about to make a break for it, she saw Igor and Frankenstein's monster! And they had Sophie!

"SOPHIE!" Lea screamed, both relieved to find her in one piece and horrified that she's under the mercy of Igor and another monster she hasn't met yet.

"Ah, Mummy. There you are!" Igor shuffled his way toward the fallen mummy. "Do you have any spare bandages for our little friend, Sophie? She's got a boo-boo."

Mummy dug underneath his gauze and pulled out a first aid kit. Igor then helped bandaged Sophie's bruised elbow before Frankenstein set her down.

"There you go, sweetie. Good as new," Frankenstein said.

"Thank you," Sophie said, hugging both Frank and Igor.

Lea stared in disbelief. Were these monsters that have Sophie patching her up? They may look scary, but didn't seem to act as ruthless as Dracula and the Mummy she just finished facing.

"Hey, guys!"

Lea squealed when a werewolf and zombie came in. And the zombie was carrying Jamie! "We actually made someone faint!"

"Jamie!" Lea nearly shouted in shock, quickly bringing her stick up with a stern glare. "What did you do to my cousin?! You better not have hurt him or Sophie! I won't let anything bad happen to my family!"

"Calm yourself, young lady," said Frankenstein. "Sophie was watching me tap dance! She tried to dance but got herself hurt!"

"And we were just scaring this kid for fun, but he fainted!" the werewolf explained. "So, we brought him here because...well...we don't know what to do with someone who hasn't run for the hills."

The blonde teen had a feeling that these monsters were telling the truth. Sophie was occasionally klutzy. Probably almost as bad as Lea herself, and that's saying something. And Jamie is curious, but would faint when things that scary get out of hand…Almost like how Lea would. Not to mention that Lea has had past experiences in dealing with stuff like this to understand them completely.

"So, you're not gonna hurt my cousins?" Lea questioned.

"Of course not!" said Frankenstein.

"We just like a good scare, that's all." said Igor.

Lea turned to Dracula. "Then...what about-"

Dracula crossed his arms in a huff, after standing back up. "Well, I figured I could give you a good scare and a small snack, while I'm at it," He sighed. "But I guess there's no free meal for me tonight."

"Have you considered having a snack substitute that's, oh, I don't know, NOT BITING PEOPLE'S NECKS FOR BLOOD!?" Lea nearly bellowed, still mad about getting scared like that and making her worry about her cousins. "If Jamie and Sophie's lives weren't on the line, I would seriously be scared out of my wits right now! I am responsible in looking after them! How would you like it if someone you care about ends up in danger?! Or taken away from you forever?!"

Now the monsters really felt bad. This human made a very good point.

"We're sorry, Miss Lea," Igor said honestly.

Lea took a deep breath and let it out slowly in calming down. "It's okay. I forgive you. To be fair, I don't even know how you could have known. My cousins and I were just running to the next house, one minute, and then the next, we fell into some abyss until we ended up here separated. And believe me, I've gone through portals to other worlds before."

Dracula raised a brow. "Fallen into an abyss? Perhaps Winnie knows something about this."

"Winnie? Who's that?" Lea asked.

The monsters let out a collective gasp.

"Why, Winnie the witch is the flying queen of Halloween, of course!" said Igor. "Every Halloween, she does her annual ride over the moon to ensure Halloween begins!"

"Ohhh. Makes sense," Lea replied, now understanding. "I never had nor heard of any witch like that where I'm from. Which means Jamie, Sophie, and I are in another dimension story where there is a witch that brings Halloween every year. Kind of reminds me of a few Guardian friends when it comes to bringing their holidays to the world."

"Guardian friends? Such as?" asked Frankenstein.

"Well, I'm not sure if you'll know or will believe me. But the Guardian friends I'm talking about are Santa Claus-or North, for short-as the Guardian of Wonder, the Easter Bunny as the Guardian of hope, the Tooth Fairy as the Guardian of Memories, the Sandman as the Guardian of Dreams, and I'm dressed up as my favorite Guardian: Jack Frost," Lea answered, gesturing her costume. "He's the Guardian of Fun. Oh! And I can't forget Katherine. She's Mother Goose and the Guardian of Imagination."

"Wait! You are friends with THE Jack Frost?!" said Dracula.

"I can't believe they made him a guardian!" said Wayne the Werewolf, "Guess if you live long enough, you will see everything."

Zabaar the Zombie King grumbled, nodding his hooded head.

"Um, yeah. He's my favorite myth that creates Winter. How we met was an amazing tale to tell. And trust me, even Jack himself start out in having a hard time in being chosen as a guardian," Lea replied, chuckling to herself on those memories. "So, you guys know Jack Frost and the other Guardians?"

"Only from the rumors. But we never met them in person," said Dracula. "In fact, we never met any of them because they all bring joy to children."

"While you bring fright in scaring them. Good point," Lea nodded in understanding. "But I have met monsters from a different world that aren't completely bad. Well, more like alien monsters. Either way, they started off scary in appearance yet don't hurt people. Not unless they were bad people harming their home and family. And the vampire I met doesn't technically drink blood. More like drains people of their energy. At least, that's what his kind does,"

Dracula blinked in surprise. "You don't say. Your world sounds battier than we are!"

"Yeah, but how are we supposed to get back home though?!" said Lea.

"Like I said, Winnie will know what to do!" said Dracula. "I'll summon her right now!" He took off into the shadows.

Lea looked over to Jamie. "Uh, is Jamie going to be okay?"

"Don't worry, Lea." said Frankenstein. "Zabaar, you know what to do."

Zabaar nodded and gently set Jamie down to the floor. Then, the zombie took off his own boot and put it above Jamie's nose.

Lea and Sophie gagged from the smell. "Oh, man! That smell!" Lea covered her mouth to keep herself from throwing up. "It's awful!"

Jamie sniffed the boot and comes to. "OH, GROSS!" He coughed from the repulsive stench.

"Nothing like the smell of a rotting zombie's boot." said Igor.

"Jamie!" Lea went down and hugged her cousin sweetly. "I am so glad you and Sophie are alright."

The young boy smiled and hugged Lea back. When he saw the monsters around him, Jamie practically jumped in surprise.

"It's okay, Jamie. They're not gonna harm us. In fact, they were just trying to give us a friendly scare away from their castle home," Lea explained, helping him up while standing back on her feet. "And Sophie seems to take a liking to Frank and Igor when first coming here."

"Dance, dance!" Sophie giggled, thinking about Frankenstein's tap-dancing while being careful in doing it again herself.

"She's quite a fan of my tap-dancing!" Frankenstein did a few steps and stumbled, knocking down a portrait of Dracula off the wall.

"Very graceful." said Igor.

Lea chuckled kindly, watching her youngest cousin enjoy herself with her new monster friend. "I can see that. No wonder Sophie was so fond of you. What matters is that you enjoy it and have fun."

"Whoa...So, all of you are real life monsters? That is so cool!" Jamie exclaimed, no longer afraid of them. "I wish I had my autograph book for you guys to sign. It's not often I get to meet legendary monsters!"

Zabaar grumbled something and offered his hand to the boy. Jamie smiled and gladly shook the monster's hand.

"I'd say it's an actual first for me in meeting real monsters and not alien versions of them from another planet," Lea shrugged, only to smile a bit on something. "But going to different to dimensions isn't half as special as being with my cousins. Especially on Halloween."

Jamie and Sophie responded by hugging their beloved cousin.

At that time, Dracula came in. "Winnie is on her way!"

"Who's Winnie?" Jamie asked, thinking he missed a lot.

"You'll see," Lea told her cousin, unable to hold her smirk.

Just then, the doors burst open and a strong gust of wind blew into the castle. A witch flew in on her broomstick. She wore a long black dress and a matching pointed hat over her dark, wiry hair.

"The flying queen of Halloween! Winnie the witch!" Igor introduced dramatically.

Lea, Jamie, and Sophie stared in awe. They are meeting an actual witch! True, Lea has met one before in a fairytale world and she happened to be around her age. But the one Lea is meeting right now is still horrific in a good way. Not to mention her skin isn't green like Wicca's.

Winnie looked at the three humans gawking at her. "Well, who do we have here? Dracula's midnight snacks?"

"Uh, no. He tried to have me as his midnight snack, but I didn't let him," Lea explained, seeing Jamie look at her in disbelief on that. "As more my little cousins, they were found by the others."

"Hi, I'm Jamie. This is my little sister, Sophie," Jamie introduced himself and his sister, whom was holding his hand. "And you already met my older cousin, Lea."

"We're not exactly from this dimension. We kind of fell into some abyss portal and ended up in Dracula's castle," Lea responded.

Winnie rubbed the wart on her cheek. "Hmm...you don't say..." She pondered for a moment. "Dracula said you were familiar with the Guardians...have you ever come across a boogeyman named Pitch Black?"

Lea and Jamie looked at each other on that before back at the monsters, very aware of the name.

"Unfortunately, yes," Lea answered seriously. "He's been trying to put our world into darkness and fear for all eternity many times. He even almost succeeded last time when teaming up with a Wind Spirit called North Wind."

"I was once the last believer on Earth when Pitch made everyone stop believing in the Guardians last year on Easter," Jamie said.

Winnie nodded. "Yeah, that definitely sounds like Pitch."

"You know him?" asked Lea.

"Sure do," Winnie answered. "He was always cheesed off that the guardians get all the love and attention and not him. Like the rest of us monsters, we were persecuted by humans and went into hiding. Soon enough, people didn't believe in us and thought we didn't exist. Which was good for us monsters, but not Pitch. Instead of staying below the radar like any person with a measurable IQ should think, he got all sour apples and wanted payback or whatever," She rolled her eyes.

"Something tells me that Pitch was the one who sent us here as payback for ruining his plans," Lea deduced, folding her arms.

Winnie shook her head. "Classic Pitch."

"And he probably wanted to feed on our fears, too, by separating us," Jamie added.

Lea nodded her head in agreement. "I still don't know why he took my socks and shoes when going through the portal. It's not exactly scary."

"Probably to sell your Jack costume," Dracula guessed. "He probably thought we were stupid enough to think you were Jack."

Jamie looked at Lea carefully on that. "You know, Dracula might be right. Lea did nearly get Sophie and I earlier in thinking she looked like Jack from behind. And without the shoes does make her more convincing."

"Too bad his plan backfired. Along with the fact that I have faced danger multiple times to a point that I'm not scared as before," Lea added. "The worst mistake Pitch made was putting my family in danger. And that was a good motivator for me in not being afraid."

"Well said," said Igor.

Winnie put her hands on her hips. "Well said is right. What do you say we get you kids home so you can have a decent Halloween?"

"Of course. Thank you, Winnie," Lea said, giving an appreciative smile. "Maybe, one of these days, we can come back and visit. Perhaps have all of you meet the Guardians. I'm sure they can understand how great you all are. I know my cousins and I had a good time knowing all of you."

"Tap, tap, tap!" Sophie danced a bit, before hugging Frankenstein around his legs.

"Yeah! It was scary, but fun! And it's so cool to meet an actual witch, too!" Jamie added.

Winnie smiled, trying not to blush. "Aw, don't get all cornball on me, kid."

"Before we go, don't suppose any of you guys have some shoes?" Lea asked, lifting up her barefoot. "The shadow portal Pitch made ate mine along the way here."

"Say no more!" Winnie raised her hand to cast a spell.

"Not so fast, Winnie!" said Dracula. He came in with an old shoe box. "Lea, I felt bad about earlier. So, to make it up to you, please accept these shoes."

Lea blinked. "Oh, um, thanks, Dracula," She opened her breathed and gasped in awe.

Inside the box was a pair of dark blue vintage style lace up boots. "These are perfect!" Lea put on the shoes and laced them up faster that you can say, 'trick or treat'. "And they match my outfit perfectly! Thank you, Dracula!"

"Where did you get shoes like that?" Jamie asked.

"They used to be my mother's." Dracula admitted. "But something tells me that they belong to you, Lea."

"Really?!" Lea and Jamie exclaimed together.

"Yes. Besides, I could never wear them! They're not my color,"

"I guess that's true. Black and sometimes red is more your style colors. Thanks again for the shoes, Dracula," Lea hugged the Vampire Count in saying her goodbye. "I'll never forget you and the rest of your monster pals."

Dracula smiled and hugged his new human friend. "As will I, Lea. You're welcome to visit us anytime."

"Something tells me I'll be coming here way before the next Halloween," Lea assured.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Burgess, Jack Frost was flying around the neighborhood looking for Lea, Jamie, and Sophie. While coming around the neighborhood for some fun in watching the kids going around in costumes, the Winter Spirit found Nightlight getting his attention. After some hard reading on what the silent toy was telling him the situation by writing on the ground, Jack immediately began searching all over with Nightlight on his shoulder hanging tight.

"Come on, come on...They have to be around here somewhere," Jack said to himself, growing concerned about Lea, Jamie, and Sophie's disappearances. "I hope Pitch didn't send them to his domain. Or someplace worse than that."

Just then, Jack spotted a bright light coming from the park. He immediately rushed to where the light flashed and saw Lea, Jamie, and Sophie safe and sound!

"Lea! Jamie! Sophie! Are you three okay?" Jack asked, already flying down to the three kids. "I was looking for you all night the moment Nightlight explained what happened!"

"We're fine, Jack. And you won't believe who we met and where we went!" Jamie explained with excitement. "We were in Transylvania, at Dracula's castle! We got to meet him, Frankenstein's monster, Igor, a werewolf, a mummy, a Zombie King, and a witch named Winnie!"

Lea chuckled at her younger cousin's eagerness. "Turns out, Pitch sent us to that monster dimension to scare us off in getting our fear. But it totally backfired and Winnie helped us get back home."

Jack stood there dumbfounded.

Lea smiled. "And, thanks to Pitch, we had the best Halloween ever!"

Unknown to the small group of friends, a certain someone was watching them from the bushes.

"Seems I have underestimated these kids than I thought. Especially that annoying teen girl," Pitch grumbled to himself. "I'll be sure to keep a note of that next time."

Giving one last cold glare at the children, Pitch Black vanished into the darkness.

Jack finally smiled and let out a deep amusing chuckle. "Talk about ironic. You ended up having fun instead of getting scared from one of the Boogeyman's plans. Guess he underestimated you three,"

"I'll say. Pitch thought that bringing all of us in Dracula's castle separated would scare us when meeting the monsters that visited plus lived there. But he failed to know that, when it comes to family, I do what I can in protecting them and making sure they're safe from harm," Lea said with determination, already hugging her childhood companion when he jumped off of Jack's shoulder.

"He even stole Lea's shoes and socks to make the monster's think she's you, Jack," Jamie added. "But they weren't that dumb in falling for that bait. The monsters knew Lea wasn't you. Even if Sophie and I first thought so for a bit when first seeing her costume."

Jack looked at Lea. "Well, can't blame you there. It's like I'm looking at a mirror here," He then looked down on the new footwear Lea had on. "So, where did you get the boots?"

"Dracula gave them to me, as an apology for almost trying to snack on my neck for blood," Lea answered. "Turns out, they belong to his mother and told me that they look better on me than him. Since dark blue isn't his color, according to Drac."

"Yeah, red's more his color." said Jamie. "It is the color of blood, after all."

"Same goes for midnight black. Makes him more menacing," Lea added.

"Dance! Dance!" Sophie cried, trying to recreate the same tap-dancing routine her Frankenstein's monster friend was doing.

Jamie laughed lightly. "Looks like Sophie still misses Frankenstein."

Lea nodded her head in agreement, giggling at this.

Jack blinked. "What's dancing got to do with Frankenstein's monster?"

"It's a long story, Jack," Lea said. "Why don't we wrap up on our trick or treating and I'll tell you all about it?"

"Sounds good to me." Jack grinned. With his friends, they ventured into the night to enjoy the rest of their Halloween. It was a Halloween Lea and her cousins will never forget.

And even though they were scared, they still met some good friends and had fun. With the right amount of fright and adventure, Halloween can be something to believe in.


End file.
